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By: Julia Wilkinson

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Do you have upscale offerings on eBay or other sites, like Chanel, Celine, or Rolex? Would you consider selling them on the Sears Marketplace?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reported that Sears CEO Edward Lampert is pushing the company to get more luxury items for the Marketplace portion of its web site. But although some sellers are furnishing such tony offerings, they are encountering some confusion from buyers, if not surprise. "ShopLindasStuff" owner Linda Lightman is quoted as saying, "Honestly, when I tell people I sell there, I always have to put in a caveat." Lightman sells designer brands such as Christian Louboutin, Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana.

She sells a few dozen items a week, compared with the more than 1,000 orders she gets daily on eBay.

Another Sears Marketplace third-party vendor, Allison Oseran of AJM Fashions, said in this video interview with Fox News, that one of the reasons she started selling on the site was their status as third largest online vendor in terms of visitors, second only to Amazon and eBay (although it's behind them by a large margin). "We looked at it as a new opportunity and new place to have all of our merchandise." She said she met representatives from Sears at a conference last year.

Questioned by Fox if the retailer known largely as the go-to place for appliances would be able to get that luxury customer looking for, say, a Rolex, Oseran said, "I sure hope so. If they're successful, then hopefully we'll be successful as well. But I think they're working really hard right now to expand their apparel department and their fashion department, and really put a lot of time and effort into it." She added if Sears can get other merchants such as hers, AJM Fashions, "that sell more high-end goods and name-brand designers, then the people will come." She also looked at it as getting in the ground floor of something.

Sears Marketplace charges a commission from 7% to 20% in addition to a monthly fee of $39.99, compared with Amazon's 6% t0 25% of an item's cost, and eBay's 6% to 9%, with varying monthly fees depending on what kind of Store subscription a seller may have.

(Note: EcommerceBytes is looking for successful sellers on all marketplaces for its "Seller Success" series, so if you are a third-party vendor and have had good sales on Sears, we'd like to hear from you. Email me at julia@auctionbytes.com).

Would you buy a luxury item from Sears, if the price was right? And if you sell luxury goods, would you consider Sears Marketplace a good place to expand to? Post a comment here!

by: CypressC

Sun Jul 28 20:14:23 2013

I sell on eBay, Amazon, and Sears. I have the same original products with the same quality photos and different (for search) but essentially similar descriptions on all three sites. I average 80-100 orders a day on eBay and Amazon.

I have had three orders in the last year on Sears. Three.

Would You Sell Luxury Goods on Sears?

by: FREDDY

Mon Jul 29 09:24:15 2013

Is Sears still around??? Thought they went under.I would not sell luxury, that is expensive, items on any site. Have been scammed too many times on non expensive items. Highest $200.00. Doesn't matter the amount - you are opened to a scam? High enough margin that you can eat the loss?

Would You Sell Luxury Goods on Sears?

by: iheartjacksparrow

Mon Jul 29 12:39:17 2013

I agree with Freddy. eBay has taught buyers on all sites how to get almost everything they want for free (or in the alternative, extort a partial refund). Even the head of eBay's seller "protection," Rich Matsuura, knows this with his "brick in a box" speech. I'd have to be a multi-million dollar a year seller with huge margins before I would even attempt to sell designer items. It's just too risky otherwise. And I wasn't even aware that there was a Sears Marketplace.

Would You Sell Luxury Goods on Sears?

by: Basset

Mon Jul 29 13:45:22 2013

I think of Sears in terms of lawn mowers.

And those huge Craftsman Rolling tool chests, like the one that rolled down the stairs in Home Alone. Maybe one could make a fine jewelery storage unit.

Instead of Louboutin - the pumps I think of in relation to Sears are the ''Sump'' variety.

But then, the ''luxury'' items Mr Basset & I go for are things like air conditioning and gas for the Basset family truckster.

Would You Sell Luxury Goods on Sears?

by: Tula

Mon Jul 29 15:38:30 2013

One thing the Sears brand does have is trust. It's well-known and has a good reputation for being a solid and trustworthy place to shop. It's not know for high-end or cutting edge, but that could change.

I myself wouldn't risk selling designer stuff, for the same reasons mentioned here. Additionally, there's the scrutiny those brands give online sellers and the risk of being accused of selling fakes. Smaller sellers like me can't afford that risk.

If Sears were smart, they'd approach the high-end home improvement side first. Home Depot did this a while back with their Expo Design Centers. Unfortunately, the poor economy forced them to close those, but the store was always mobbed when I went there and I bought a lot of my new kitchen goods there. Given Sears' history of selling home goods and appliances, this would be a far more natural step for them. I'd certainly support that, since it's difficult to find sellers of a lot of the higher-end brands, which makes it difficult to compare prices and features.

I thought about selling on Sears years ago.But their terms were too tough for me.

Once again I wonder why a large B7M chain would want other people to sell stuff on their website.

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